Battlefield 1 Giant's Shadow map intros the Grenade Crossbow

EA has released information about a new DLC on the way for Battlefield 1 players. The Giant's Shadow map DLC release has two major attractions; firstly it's free to all Battlefield 1 players, and secondly it features a powerful new weapon called the grenade crossbow.

The name of this map is derived from the fact that a massive crashed airship casts a shadow over an area of the landscape, shown above. The area features fierce combat on the open ground and river banks alongside the Cateau-Wassigny railway, which isn't far off the Belgian border.

This is the setting for the Battle of the Selle, 1918, according to the Battlefield blog. The story of this map is that "British forces have broken through the Hindenburg line and are heading towards a strategic railway centre". The outcome of the impending battle is uncertain and the arrival of an armoured train could upset any expectations.

Introduced alongside the map is a powerful new weapon for support class players to deploy. The grenade crossbow, pictured above, is exactly what it sounds like. Apparently this weapon is "based on one of many unique contraptions from the Great War". In use the grenade crossbow can silently and accurately deliver either fragmentation or high explosive grenades. If you watch the embedded video, below, you can see a crossbow-launched grenade hurtling towards a speeding train…

Giant's Shadow is available initially for Battlefield 1 Premium Pass and pre-order early access customers, on 13th December. A week later, on 20th December, anyone with a copy of Battlefield 1 will be able to download and play the Giant's Shadow DLC for free.

In other recent Battlefield 1 news EA has introduced a new official custom multiplayer game called Line of Sight. The linked official blog post outlines the custom game shenanigans.